LIFA ANSWERS THE WSJ ON DREAMERS & DACA

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) recently published an opinion piece written by two attorneys entitled “Spare the ‘Dreamers’ a Nightmare by According Them Due Process.”

The two attorneys who wrote the column state that President Trump has pledged to “show great heart” but that his administration is showing mixed signals toward the young illegal immigrants known as “Dreamers” who were brought to the USA as minors, and whom the Obama administration protected from deportation under the policy known as “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” (DACA).

The two attorneys represent a DACA recipient named Daniel Ramirez Medina who was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and who is now fighting deportation.

The attorneys decry what they call the “ICE entrapment” of their client and demand that President Trump “put his soothing words into action.”

In response to this WSJ article, Legal Immigrants For America (LIFA) Founder and President Amapola Hansberger prepared a letter dismantling the two attorneys’ WSJ argument.

Here is the text of Pola Hansberger’s letter:

It’s easy to see that the authors of this piece do not recognize or do not care as to the unfairness and discrimination toward legal immigrants that DACA and DAPA represent. Most legal immigrants or asylum seekers do not arrive with pockets full of money, but with an attitude of gratitude and love of country. They eagerly want to learn the language, adapt, and work hard to become Americans. Legal immigrants are law-abiding citizens in their countries of origin, and are well-vetted by our government.

The unfair strategy of purposely blurring the difference between the two groups, legal immigrants and illegal aliens, is offensive, but it is the only way that they can get away with saying: “The immigrant community contributes immensely to America and commit less crimes than the natural born.”

Few of the traditional legal immigrants from Latin America or elsewhere would fight for illegal children to be afforded preferential treatment, such as with DACA or DAPA, because it is the legal immigrant, and their children, that will be sacrificed when they and their children can’t find a job or get a scholarship for their children’s education.

For these clueless attorneys, I propose that they go live in Latin America for a while so that they learn to recognize the difference between a law-abiding Latino family and a lawless one.